The Flywheel

Program for October 3rd, 2008

On Stage!

The East Bay Center for the Performing
Arts performs
at the Mira Vista Country Club. Think hot nights on
a Carribean Island. Think the rolling pulses of steel
band sound. Or don't think at all. Just come. And bring
your spouse or signficant other for what promises to
be a hot, if not a bit unusual, date.

One more hook: Your attendance helps fund a Rotary scholarship
to the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. More
details on Laura K's
cool flyer.

Visit the website of the East Bay Center for the Performing
Arts to learn more about their classes and events.

MEETING OF September 26th, 2008

Welcome and Joke for the Day

Tom Butt led us in the Pledge. David
Brown told a joke: What do you have with an
insomniac, dyslexic agnostic? Someone who stays
awake at night wondering whether there is a dog. (Maybe
more of you will get it when you see it in print.)

Rotarians with Guests

Mark brought Rosie Freeman, who works
for PG&E and who has alerted Mark to PG&E’s
Campaign for Community, which encourages PG&E employees
to give to charities. Mark is going to try to get
Richmond Rotary’s Peace Plan onto the list.Glenn Daggs introduced his new Director
of Investigations, a former Vallejo Police officer.

Sunshine Report

Bill K wasn’t at the meeting,
but Elof and Werner were,
so the Club appears to be healthy.

Announcements

Point Richmond Music tonight, with wine tasting on
the balcony of Josh Genser’s office
in Point Richmond overlooking the music.

Home Front Festival next weekend. Rotary still
needs some volunteers for shifts on Sunday.

Richmond Rotary at the A’s was a lot of fun.

El Cerrito Rotary still needs a home for a Russian
high school student attending El Cerrito High School.

Happy and Sad Dollars

Tom Waller was happy for the hospitality
he encountered at El Cerrito Rotary where he went to
solicit guests to Richmond’s meeting at which
the East Bay Center for Performing arts will perform
and for the Winehaven event.

John Nicol was sad for Herb
Cole because USC lost to Oregon State.

Herb, blithely ignoring John, was happy for the great
brunch at Jim Beaver’s house last Sunday, put
on by Beaver and Leslie Levy and
sold at the auction. It was the first time he’d
had crab quiche. Herb was also happy that his
mother was back in Beaumont. The latter fact
probably explains why Herb had never before had crab
quiche.

Dan Sanders was also happy for the
brunch, and he had mixed feelings about last weeks
announcement by John Nicol that Dan had gotten married
without telling anyone.

Glenn Daggs was happy about the
A’s game and fireworks, which he said were the
best he’s ever seen in all 50 years of his life. Glenn
was also happy to have a new client that he couldn’t
name but could identify.

Erle crowed over the fact that Herb
Cole, who couldn’t root for his alma mater’s
team because it hadn’t won a game since he graduated,
which caused Herb to adopt USC as his college football
team, suffered the ignominy of USC’s loss to
Oregon State, the second year in a row USC was upset
by the bottom rung of the PAC-10 ladder. Heck,
Herb, even Stanford beat Oregon State this year.

Rafael was happy that the A’s
game was such a success.

Jim Young, who professed to be inspired
by Tom Waller, admired Tom’s
photo on the cover of the Chamber newsletter.

Judy Morgan was happy about the
brunch and passed out postcards with the schedule of
entertainment for the Home Front Festival.

Alan Baer took his kids the Rotary
night at the A’s, their very first baseball game. They
hit everyone with their foam fingers and had a great
time.

Jon went sky-diving with his son. As
Jon, himself, said, it was a perfectly sound airplane
and there was no reason to jump out of it!

Josh took time out from scribing
notes for this newsletter to be happy he’s going
to Italy for 17 days.

Norm’s Corner

Norm Foley, a 25 year verteran of the Club and former
editor of the Flywheel when it was (get this) printed
on paper and mailed to members,
indicated his desire to share some of his hard won
insights. This week, on dining out:

Diner: "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup."
Waiter: "Well, it's no small wonder, the chef used
to be a tailor."

Raffle Results

Don Hardison drew a white ball.

THE PROGRAM

Bay Area Crime Stoppers

Bay Area Crime Stoppers was on the agenda, and we heard
from Tony Fasanella, along with Mechanics
Bank CEO Steve
Buster and former police chief Bernie
Matthews.

Crime
Stoppers provides a way for people to report tips about
crime anonymously and to receive rewards for doing so. It’s
been around for 31 years, but it’s relatively new
to the Bay Area. With sufficient publicity, everyone
will know the telephone number, 800-222-TIPS, and people
will call with information.

Callers are not identified
by name, but are given code numbers, and, if their information
leads to an arrest and the filing of charges, the tipster
gets a reward of up to $2,000. The call center
is in Toronto, because Canadian law protects the identities
of the tipsters. Bay Area Crime Stoppers is looking
for donations to use for publicity and rewards. Donations
are tax-deductible.